Jordan Smith was delighted to be feeling confident again after a battling second round 68 put him right in contention heading into the weekend at the 2021 ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by Modest! Golf Management.
The Englishman led after an opening 62 at Galgorm Castle Golf Club but did not have it all his own way at Massereene, starting with a double bogey and sitting two over for the day after 11 holes.
He then made four birdies on the way in to get himself to ten under and just one off the 36 hole lead as he looks for a second European Tour victory.
His first at the 2017 Porsche European Open came after a meteoric rise through the game which saw him win the EuroPro Tour Order of Merit in 2015 and finish top of the European Challenge Tour Rankings the following season.
The 28-year-old admits it would have been a huge ask to maintain that sort of momentum but, after finishing in the top 65 on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex in each of his four European Tour seasons, he is happy to be in a position to turn consistency into a win.
"I'd say everything is going in the right direction," he said.
"I think you're not going to continue trending at that sort of rate that I did when I first sort of came out on Tour.
"I think just getting a bit of confidence back yesterday was a lot of that, so I think get a few good rounds under my belt, a few good tournaments and the confidence will be back, and it's amazing what a bit of confidence can do."
